The Gem of 'Hattan
by cassiecrawford
Summary: This story will follow Ellie Thomas and her life as the only girl newsie in Manhattan.


p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;" /span/p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Prologue/span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;" span class="Apple-converted-space" /spanNew York was always so alive. No matter the time of day or night; the city simply never slept- ever. Each light signified hope, elegance, and prosperity./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Well at least that's what most people think. But for us Newsies... we only clung to one of those words, and that word is hope. If we had no hope, we don't have nothin at all. And trust me when I tell you, hope could run thin in the streets of 'Hattan when you ain't got nothin but the clothes on your back and a couple o pennies to get you through each day./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"And that's why we we treated each other like family. Because that's exactly what we were. Those boys were my brothers, and I, their sista. I would've given my life for any of the boys livin' in the lodging house. And I knew that any of them would do the exact same for me./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"What I did not know, was how literal that might become./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s2" style="font-family: '.SFUIText-Italic'; font-style: italic; font-size: 17pt;"December, 1895/span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;" span class="Apple-converted-space" /spanThe colder it got, the blurrier my mind got. But if I remember correctly, this would be my 4th month slumming it in the streets. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"At first it wasn't so bad. August was warm and promising and helped me to keep on keeping on./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"However as summer started to transition to the fall, and the fall to winter... I started to get lazier when it came to picking a new alley way.. or getting something to eat./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"That leads me to now. I'm sitting in an alley way. The large clock in the square chimed midnight about a half hour ago, and I think that some sleep will do me good./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Unfortunately I'm only left with my troubling thoughts like:/span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""When's the last time I ate?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""When's the last time I could feel my feet or hands?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""How long do I have before some bull comes and boots me right outta here?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Was running away even worth it?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"You're probably wondering about that last question. But I'm not gonna get into it right now. Sorry -you don't get a back story./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Who knew a 10 year old could endure so much. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Then I remembered: this is what half of the kids in Manhattan go through every damn day. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"I think that is truly what motivates me to keep going. Knowing somewhere, somehow, there's other kids just like me. Hopelessly running and looking for a home. Whether that home was a building, or just people./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"It's all I want. It's all that I've ever wanted./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"All of the sudden I heard footsteps that drag me out of my thoughts./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Is there somebody down there Jack?" I heard a voice inquire./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"I immediately got on my feet, ready to run./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Well give me a second Mush I'm lookin'" the voice I assume to be "Jack" said coming closer. When we locked eyes I was stuck. This boy was about 12, with brown locks and piercing blue eyes./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"I was ready to run, but something told me that I shouldn't. The way he looked at me made me feel safe and like I didn't need to worry about anything anymore. Like I didn't need to run or hide. That everything I ever needed were in those two eyes that looked back at me./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Don't be scared of me doll," Jack said reaching his hand out to mine. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"I looked at his hand, unsure of what to make of it. Should I take it? Should I run away from strangers like a sensible person should do?/span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""What's your name?" A kid with an eye patch asked looking at me with caring eyes./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""El- Ellie Thomas," I said quietly./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""You's got anywhere to stay tonight Ellie?" Jack asked me, hand still outstretched./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""N-no I don't," I said./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Take the hand, kid," a shorter boy with a thick Italian accent and cigar in hand said. "I swear it'll be the best move you eva make."/span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"I believe life is all about leaps of faith. And I took one that day when I grabbed Jack Kelly's hand, and became the first ever girl newsie of Manhattan./span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"************************/span/p  
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p  
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"YAY prologue is done! If you want me to keep writing this, then PLEASE review. It inspires me to keep going!/span/p 


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